Redlands Symphony scores a John Luther Adams ‘there is no one’ debut

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Ransom Wilson conducts the final concert of the Redlands Symphonyu0092s annual Summer Music Academy at First Presbyterian Church Friday in Redlands, CA. July 28, 2017.TERRY PIERSON,THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG

Redlands Symphony Orchestra has collaborated with Lincoln Center in New York City to bring the work of Grammy-winning composer John Luther Adams to Redlands for Saturday’s concert at Memorial Chapel on University of Redlands campus.

“Nobody in this area has ever collaborated with Lincoln Center before,” said Ransom Wilson, symphony conductor. “In my capacity with the Chamber Society of Lincoln Center, I had approached John Luther Adams about composing a piece. Commissions with Adams are very expensive, so we needed to round up a few ensembles to make the collaboration work. We needed one more, and I thought, why shouldn’t it be Redlands Symphony?”

Adams, a composer whose life and work are rooted in the natural world, received the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for music for his symphonic work, “Become Ocean,” and a 2015 Grammy for best contemporary classical composition. He received the William Schuman Award from Columbia University, and the Heinz Award for his contributions to raising environmental awareness.

“This is a one-movement work, and it is extremely still,” said Wilson about the Adams work titled “there is no one, not even the wind.”

“Adams likes to say he writes music where nothing happens. This piece is always quiet, evoking the hush and stillness of the desert. Memorial Chapel is a great place for this work — the lively acoustics of the hall will only enhance the stillness.”

The work’s world premiere was in Seattle, and this concert will be the California debut. Other collaborators include Camerata Pacifica of Santa Barbara, Chamber Music Northwest from Portland, and Emerald City Music from Seattle.

The theme of nature pervades the concert, as the orchestra will perform Jean Françaix’ “Sérénade,” which, according to Wilson, draws on the sensibilities of nature.

“This is music that is meant to please the listener, with sophisticated musical jokes, from humorous to childlike sentimentality,” he said. “It is delightful from first to last, so full of lush musical phrases and fun.”

The orchestra will perform a piece by Wilson’s Yale University colleague, Christopher Theophanidis, a young composer who has written a 20-minute work for American Ballet Theater.

“It’s a big piece, composed for full orchestra,” said Wilson. “It’s very engaging, tonal, with big romantic melodies.”

For this concert, the orchestra will be more the size of a chamber orchestra, with the Françaix work orchestrated for 20 musicians.

“We will be performing the full ballet score, the original version, of Copland’s ‘Appalachian Spring,’ as it was scored for 13 performers as part of the Martha Graham ballet,” Wilson said. “People who have heard both versions — this one for the small ensemble and the orchestral suite for a large orchestra — always say they prefer this one. It’s a more intimate connection with the listener.”

According to the program notes, Copland worked with Graham to delineate characters, including a bride and her husband-to-be, and telescope the events of the entire day, starting with a musical sunrise and ending with the couple’s wedding in the evening.

Although this performance is with the small ensemble, it will include all of the ubiquitous tunes, “Simple Gifts,” an obscure (at the time, 1944) Shaker hymn, being among the most recognizable.

“I am absolutely excited to bring this concert to our Redlands audience, and to share all of this music which evokes the essence of our natural world,” Wilson said.